FIFA is set to launch an investigation after Australian referee Shaun Evans was accused of making a gesture associated with white supremacy while on camera during Germany's 7-1 World Cup victory over Curacao on Sunday.
Incident Details
Evans, 38, was serving as the assistant VAR for the Group E match. Before kick-off, the broadcast showed the match officials in the VAR room, as is standard at the World Cup. During this segment, Evans appeared to make an upside-down 'OK' signal with his right hand on his thigh, a gesture that has been linked to the 'white power' movement.
The symbol gained notoriety when Australian white supremacist Brenton Tarrant used it in court after his 2019 arrest for the murder of 50 people in shootings at two mosques in New Zealand. That same year, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) noted that the OK symbol had become a 'popular trolling tactic' among 'right-leaning individuals'.
Context and Controversy
However, the gesture is also associated with a playground prank, where a person makes the symbol below their waist and punches anyone who looks. The ADL emphasizes that the 'overwhelming usage' of the hand gesture remains to show approval or indicate that someone is OK. They caution against jumping to conclusions about intent, though they acknowledge it can be a 'sincere expression of white supremacy'.
The BBC added the 'OK' hand gesture to its list of hate symbols in 2019. Reach Sport has contacted FIFA for comment. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, a subcontractor had his accreditation withdrawn for apparently making the same gesture during a women's skateboarding final.
Background on Evans
Evans began officiating part-time while working as a bricklayer. He started in Australia's A-League as an assistant referee in 2008 and became a referee four years later. In 2017, he was added to the FIFA International Referees List.
Response from Fare Network
Fare, an anti-discrimination network in football, issued a statement saying: 'Advice from our experts is that the gesture used clearly resembles an upside down 'OK' hand symbol used as a 'white power' symbol in global far-right circles. Why is a VAR supervisor using this symbol at a global football event at the very moment he knows the cameras are on him? It can only be that he is intentionally transmitting a far-right neo-nazi symbol.'
The network noted that TV directors have since stopped introducing the VAR panel to the audience in subsequent games, adding: 'A global television audience should not be subjected to extremist far right individuals using neo-Nazi symbols as they prepare to watch a match. Clearly this official should have no further role to play in this World Cup.'
